About maketodayrock.com: We celebrate musicians' birthdays, remember those we've lost, and highlight key moments in music such a release dates, chart peak dates, or anything else tied to a specific date. Pick any day from the menu in the top right. The front page shows recent obituaries.
January 4, 1926 ~ Harry Levy, commonly known as music manager, agent, label executive Don Arden, born in Manchester, UK ~ Father of Sharon Osbourne. Dubbed “the Yiddish Godfather” for his aggressive and sometimes illegal business tactics. Represented artists such as Air Supply, the Small Faces, the Move, Black Sabbath and the Electric Light Orchestra ~ Levy passed away in 2007
January 4, 1924 ~ Pianist, composer Alfred Grünfeld passed away in Vienna, Austria ~ Became the most popular salon pianist in Vienna. Frequently worked with Arnold Rosé, the Hellmesberger Quartet, and with his brother Heinrich Grünfeld. One of the first pianists of note to make commercial recordings, starting in the late 1880s. Also known for his transcriptions of close friend Johann Straus II ~ Grünfeld was born in 1852
January 4, 1922 ~ Jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, composer Arvid Gram Paulsen born in Oslo, Norway ~ Worked with Rowland Greenberg, Lulle Kristofferson, Pete Brown, Svein Overgaard, Willie Vieth, Jens Book-Jenssen, Alf Sogaard, and Kari Diesen ~ Paulsen passed away in 1963
January 4, 1922 ~ Saxophonist, flutist Frank Wess, full name Frank Wellington Wess, born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA ~ Protégé of Lester Young. Best known for his time with Count Basie, backing the pianist for a little over a decade including on The Atomic Mr Basie and Basie At Birdland. Well over a dozen albums as a leader or co-leader, especially noted for 1955's Flutes And Reeds, and his 1959 masterpiece Opus De Jazz. Member of the New York Jazz Quintet, with whom he recorded about half a dozen albums in the 1970s and early 1980s. Other notable associations include Sonny Stitt, Eddie Bert, Milt Jackson, Big Joe Turner (The Boss Of The Blues), Lee Konitz, Dinah Washington, Thad Jones (The Fabulous Thad Jones), Sarah Vaughan, Dorothy Ashby (Hip Harp), Tal Farlow, Ray Charles (The Genius of Ray Charles), Quincy Jones, Joe Newman (Jive At Five), Etta Jones, Gene Ammons, Elvin Jones, Pee Wee Russell (Spirit Of '67), Aretha Franklin (Lady Soul), Freddie King, Roberta Flack (First Take), King Curtis, Dakota Staton, and Yusef Lateef ~ Wess passed away in 2013January 4, 1918 ~ Norman Dale Baker, commonly known as composer Buddy Baker, born in Springfield, Missouri, USA ~ Known as composer who scored Disney films such as Apple Dumpling Gang, The Shaggy DA, The Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh and The Fox And Hound. Married to singer Betty Jane Baker from 1950 to 1957 ~ Baker passed away in 2002
January 4, 1911 ~ Norosbaldo Morales, commonly known as pianist, bandleader Noro Morales, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico ~ Led the Brothers Morales Orchestra, which also included his siblings Humberto Morales and Esy Morales, known for their 1939 hit Serenata Ritmica. Worked with Rafael Muñoz, Alberto Socarrás, Augusto Cohen, Tito Rodriguez, José Luis Moneró, Chano Pozo, Willie Rosario, and Tito Puente ~ Morales passed away in 1964
January 4, 1907 ~ Jazz, dixieland, swing clarinetist, bandleader, songwriter Joe Marsala, full name Joseph Francis Marsala, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ Considered an excellent clarinetist, Marsala got his start in music in the late 1920s freelancing for the likes of Wingy Manone and Ben Pollack, before venturing out on his own. Marsala led several groups through the late 1940s, notably being one of the first to employ then-future superstar drummer Buddy Rich. Others who have passed through the ranks of his ensembles include his wife Adele Girard, as well as Red Allen, Eddie Condon, Joe Bushkin, Dave Tough, Shelly Manne, Max Kaminsky, and his younger brother trumpeter Marty Marsala. By the end of the 1940s, Marsala retired from performing to focus on a career as a songwriter and music publisher. Marsala wrote Don't Cry Joe (Let Her Go Let Her Go Let Her Go), best known as recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1949, and co-wrote And So To Sleep Again with Sunny Skylar, recorded by Patti Page in 1951 ~ Marsala passed away in 1978January 4, 1906 ~ Jazz trumpeter Frankie Newton, full name William Frank Newton, born in Emory, Virginia, USA ~ Worked with Sam Wooding, Chick Webb, Charlie Barnet, Andy Kirk, Charlie Fess Johnson, Lucky Millinder, Pete Brown, James P Johnson, Art Tatum, Sid Catlett, Edmond Hall, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday (including on the 1939 original of Strange Fruit), Ulysses Livingston, Elmer Snowden, and Sonny White ~ Newton passed away in 1954
January 4, 1905 ~ Delta blues singer, guitarist Tommy McClennan born in Durant, Mississippi, USA ~ Known for recordings such as Bottle It Up And Go, New Highway 51, Shake 'Em On Down, Whiskey Head Woman, My Baby's Gone, Cross Cut Saw Blues. The latter two would be carried forward to younger generations covered by respectively Moon Mullican and Albert King ~ McClennan passed away in 1961
January 4, 1903 ~ Pianist, bandleader, composer Carroll Gibbons, full name Carroll Richard Gibbons, born in Clinton, Massachusetts, USA ~ American-born bandleader rose to fame during the British dance band era. Co-led the Savoy Orpheans. Led the New Mayfair Orchestra. Briefly returned to the USA to work as a film composer for MGM in the early 1930s. As a composer best known for A Garden In The Rain, Bubbling Over, Moonbeam Dance and On The Air ~ Gibbons passed away in 1954January 4, 1874 ~ Violinist, composer Josef Suk born in Krecovice, Bohemia ~ Student of Antonín Dvorák, whose daughter Otylie he would eventually marry. Considered one of the leading composers in Czech Modernism, alongside Vítezslav Novák and Otakar Ostrcil. As a composer admired by Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg, and best known for orchestral music such as his Serenade For Strings Op.6, published in 1892 ~ Suk passed away in 1935